TOW 5: Christian Group Finds Gay Agenda in Anti-Bullying Day

Mix It Up at Lunch Day is a day when students are encouraged to interact and socialize with students that they would normally not speak to. Thousands of schools have adopted this idea, in order to prevent bullying and create a welcoming atmosphere. However, the American Family Association, a conservative evangelical group has accused this day of teaching students to accept homosexuals, and to believe that homosexuality is okay. Whether it is because of this accusation, hundreds of schools have already cancelled the Mix It Up at Lunch Day.

This article was written by Kim Severson from the New York Times. The New York Times is a widely read and credible source for articles of a variety of genres. Severson is a widely acclaimed writer, having won several awards for her writing.

I don’t think this article was necessarily important in context. It just told of a recent controversial event on the effects of homosexuality and its strong opposers.

The purpose of this article was to tell a current event that was rather surprising. The idea that the American Family Association would go so far as to assume that Mix It Up at Lunch Day was to promote homosexuality was very shocking. This article is another story on the contentious topic of homosexuality today.

The text was written for the general public.

Ethos was used in this article. “’…we [American Family Association] are not a hate group. We are a truth group …we tell the truth about homosexual behavior’” (Severson para 9). The American Family Association emphasizes themselves as a truth group in order to prove to the readers that they are reliable, an example of ethos. Although there are people that do accept homosexuality, the American Family Association wants to prove that they are credible and honest, so they state that they are a “truth group,” thus they tell the truth.

The author’s purpose of telling a surprising recent event was accomplished. How a sensitive topic like homosexuality can be blown out of proportion was shown through this article. Strong minded groups like the American Family Association accused a day dedicated to anti-bullying and equality to encouraging homosexuality, which was rather far-fetched and shocking.